At The Park School Graduation, Last is Best

Attend the graduation ceremony at at 4 p.m. Monday, and you'll see some unusual traditions.

First of all, the graduates don't wear gowns over their clothing, and there are no guest speakers. Rather, students elect speakers from among their own ranks, said Hillary Jacobs, director of communications for Park.

Most interesting, however, is that students cross out each graduate's name in the program as it's announced. That's because everyone wants theirs to be the last name called to get their diploma—and names aren't announced in alphabetical order.

"All the diplomas are put into two big baskets and they are drawn completely at random," Jacobs said.

What's the big deal for being last? A cache of money students collected before graduation. "The last one called gets the money," she said.

This article would be more in-depth, possibly more interesting, definitely longer, but not more mysterious, if there were a backstory about how this tradition began more than 30 years ago.

However, such an explanation doesn't exist, Jacobs said.

"We can't get to the bottom of it. We've asked some of the folks who were around back then, but no one knows."

The ceremony for Park's Class of 2011 will be held at 4 p.m. Monday, June 13, in the Athletic Center at Park School, 2425 Old Court Road, Pikesville.